P.E.I. F.C. chasing crucial points

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Prince Edward Island’s top soccer team is looking to take care of business tonight as it heads into the homestretch of its season.

SoccerStop P.E.I. F.C. (2-1-2) hosts Codiac First Touch (2-0-3) today at 7 p.m. at UPEI. P.E.I. F.C., the three-time defending McCain New Brunswick Premier Soccer League champs, only has four games remaining, making tonight’s points crucial.

“We got off to a bit of a slow start this year, but I think we’ve got the ball rolling now and we’ll look to . . . take that into the next game,” Jared Murphy said. P.E.I. F.C. and Codiac tied 4-4 on June 15 in Moncton in their only meeting this season.

“There was a lot of offence. I think both teams might come out a bit defensively tomorrow,” Murphy said Thursday.

The team learned a valuable lesson from the previous contest after coughing up a 2-0 halftime lead.

“It’s just a matter of when we get up a couple of goals not to let our guards down. Anybody can come back in this league,” said Murphy, who leads the squad with five goals in five games.

Adam Lowther has missed a couple of weeks with a calf injury but is hoping to return for Wednesday’s 9 p.m. game at UPEI against P.E.I.’s Canada Games squad.

Brandon Eagle expected to start tonight for P.E.I. F.C.

While there remains a number of veterans from P.E.I. F.C.’s first of three straight league titles, Murphy said, there’s a strong core of younger players, including Nacho Sanchez and Sam Smiley, who have stepped up and made an impact for the squad this season.

Remaining games

A look at SoccerStop P.E.I. F.C.’s remaining games in the McCain New Brunswick Premier Soccer League. All games are at UPEI.